High treason is defined, in current law, as espionage or other assistance to a foreign state that damages Russia’s external security. But the new definition would include moves against the nation’s “constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial and state integrity.” Financial or consultative assistance would also fall under the new interpretation of treason.
Many activists are convinced that the law would be loose enough to punish any and all forms of criticism: civic activism, political opposition, defense of human rights. The punishment for such infringements – as many as 20 years – would remain consistent with the earlier version. Friday’s approval was the first in three required parliamentary readings, after which it can be signed into law.
This is the latest in a series of legal advances by Putin and parliament to crack down on critics, following street protests in March. Much of Putin’s rhetoric is firmly anti-Washington. One new law stipulates that NGOs that receive foreign funding and engage in vaguely defined political activity must register as “foreign agents.” This is to damage their credibility among Russians.
Even before the bill was proposed, speech in Russia has been far from free.
In August, three members of the punk band Pussy Riot were handed down two-year sentences for performing an anti-Putin song in Moscow. New Yorker editor David Remnick asserted, after what he called the absurdist trial, that “Putin’s most vocal critics have every reason to fear.”
